This evening, I stood shoulder to shoulder at the sink with my father as we cleaned up after dinner. I’d cooked. He washed and I dried. The drying / washing arrangement was ever thus and, as a child, I longed to usurp him – chiefly because this meant that another unfortunate soul would be taskedContinue reading “Chrissie Gittins’ Sharp Hills”
Category Archives: 2019
Pure Heroine – Rachel Piercey’s Disappointing Alice
Social media, we are told, defines who girls want to be – or at least who they want to look like. Earlier this year, The Telegraph reported that ‘6% of girls aged 13 to 16 – equivalent to more than 100,000 – said they had undergone cosmetic surgery to improve their looks for non-medical reasons.’Continue reading “Pure Heroine – Rachel Piercey’s Disappointing Alice”
Rebecca Tamás – Witch
On Friday the 21st August, 1829, The Times reported on the case of Jean Sabathé. His child was gravely ill. Conventional medicine had failed and he engaged the services of Rose Péres, sorceress. Her rites were suitably theatrical: nine red-hot flints were plunged into a cauldron, filling the room with a mysterious vapour. Candles wereContinue reading “Rebecca Tamás – Witch”
Poor Rude Lines: poetry reviews & recommendations by John Field 